City Council at Sochi Mayor promises not to hurry with approval of RLUD

On December 16, after the public hearings held in four Sochi districts on the draft "Rules of Land Use and Development of Sochi" (RLUD), a meeting was organized of the members of the public entity named "Town-Planning Board of Sochi", headed by architect Olga Kozinskaya, with the counterpart - City Council at Sochi Mayor, headed by architect Ovanes Zadikyan.

The aim of the meeting, on which public activists insisted, was to decide on approval of the RLUD in the form designed by the Limited Liability Company (LLC) "Institute of Building Projects" from St Petersburg.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, there were about fifty specialists at the meeting, whose opinions and interests were quite diametrical. The authorities and businessmen were sure that the RLUD should be adopted as they are, otherwise it will be impossible to issue permits, starting next year, on high-rise buildings in Sochi and to go on with unfinished constructions as demanded by the town-planning code.

On the other hand, public activists believe that the Rules are "wrong", as, in their opinion, they "will aggravate the existing town-planning lawlessness, but will not relieve the resort from pernicious problems of high-rise construction, encouraged by the offered RLUD."

The opinion of the public was so categorical that even Ovanes Zadikyan has admitted that the RLUD need improvement.

The minutes of the joint meeting contained the decision to reject the RLUD and recognize the work of the LLC "Institute of Building Projects" from St Petersburg, which designed the Rules under the order of the Department of Architecture and Town-Planning of Sochi Administration, unsatisfactory.